Every leash had a suggestion.
The Way to the Park
Hana had promised the dogs a walk to the park.
She had not said which park, how quickly they would get there, or whether they might stop on the way. The dogs had apparently made their own arrangements.
At the first corner, the white poodle stopped outside the bakery. The black poodle followed a woman carrying a paper bag. The brown one pressed his nose to a lamppost, while the grey one sat down and looked back along the street.
Hana stopped too.
“Is there a meeting?” she asked.
The white poodle pulled gently towards the bakery door. A warm smell of bread drifted out as someone came through it. The black poodle watched the woman with the bag continue around the corner, then sat down to consider his loss.
The brown poodle remained at the lamppost.
“Three of you have chosen,” Hana said.
The grey poodle was still looking behind them.
“Have you forgotten something?”
He stood up. Hana took one step back, and he took two. She stopped; he sat again.
The brown poodle finished at the lamppost and came over to see what they were doing. Hana gathered the four leashes before he could walk through them.
“We’ll go back a little,” she said. “Then we’ll try the park.”
The white poodle glanced at the bakery, but came along.
Four Suggestions
Hana walked back as far as the flower shop. The grey poodle followed closely, his blue ribbon bouncing against his chest.
Outside the shop, he stopped and looked across the street.
A woman in a green coat stood beside a bicycle, balancing a parcel against the handlebars. Something lay on the pavement near her feet. Each time she bent to pick it up, the parcel slipped, and she had to catch it again.
Hana recognised Mrs Mori, who lived two doors away.
The grey poodle recognised her too. He gave a short bark.
Mrs Mori looked up. “Oh, hello! I was hoping you’d come back.”
Hana crossed at the corner with the dogs, who arrived in a rather different order from the one in which they had started.
“Did you drop something?” Hana asked.
“My glove.” Mrs Mori nodded towards the pavement. “I put the parcel on the bicycle to pick it up, but now I can’t let go of either.”
Hana picked up the glove. The grey poodle greeted Mrs Mori while she put it on.
“And thank you for noticing,” she told him. He wagged so hard that his leash brushed the brown poodle’s nose.
Mrs Mori secured her parcel in the bicycle basket. Before leaving, she gave each dog a little pat. The black poodle received two because he came round again when she reached the grey one.
“I thought you were going to the park,” Mrs Mori said.
“We are,” Hana replied.
She looked at the four leashes in her hand.
“Eventually.”
A Few Stops
They returned to the corner.
The black poodle pulled towards a man carrying another paper bag. Hana was about to guide him on when a small terrier appeared from behind the man’s legs.
The two dogs greeted each other while the man waited with his bag.
“I thought he wanted your lunch,” Hana said.
“So did I,” said the man.
The black poodle finished his inspection and turned away from the bag without so much as a glance at it.
“Mine would have wanted the lunch,” the man added.
A little farther along, the white poodle stopped at the bakery again. Hana let him stand by the open door for a moment. He lifted his nose and breathed in while the others waited.
“Is that enough?” she asked.
He took one reluctant step away.
The brown poodle found another lamppost. This one required a longer visit than the first. Hana stood beside him, keeping the leashes loose, while the grey poodle watched a leaf travel along the gutter.
When the brown poodle was ready, Hana looked at her watch. She had promised to be home in time for a delivery, and the park was still several streets away.
“We may have to choose somewhere closer,” she said.
The dogs offered no objection, although the white poodle had turned back towards the bakery.
An Agreement
Hana led them to a bench near the corner, where she could see the park gate in the distance. They would have time to sit for a few minutes before going home.
The grey poodle settled at her feet. The brown one found a patch of shade beneath the bench. The black poodle watched every dog that passed, and the white one kept an eye on the bakery door.
Hana took the sprig from her bag. She had picked it from her garden that morning, meaning to show it to a friend later. One small leaf had caught in the handle. She freed it and tucked the sprig back inside.
Mrs Mori rode past with the parcel secure in her basket. She lifted her gloved hand, and Hana waved.
“There,” Hana told the grey poodle. “You were right to look back.”
He watched Mrs Mori disappear down the street, then rested his chin on Hana’s shoe.
When it was time to leave, Hana stood and gathered the leashes.
“Ready to go home?”
All four dogs rose at once.
“That’s an agreement,” she said.
They set off together, their ribbons bobbing in a neat row. At the corner, all four turned left.
Hana looked left too.
The bakery door was open.
“You’ve discussed this,” she said.
The white poodle reached the doorway first. The other three stood beside him, waiting as though this had been the promised destination all along.
Hana checked her watch once more. There was still time.
She went inside and bought a small loaf for herself. When she came out, four faces looked up at the paper bag.
“This is mine,” she said.
The black poodle, who had shown no interest in the other bag, followed hers all the way home.
Leave a Reply